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Balochistan - A Bangla Redux in the Making

“Where does the U.S. stand on Balochistan? Because Indian Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] has raised this subject,” Mr. Kirby was asked.

“The U.S. Government respects the unity and territorial integrity of Pakistan and we do not support independence for Balochistan,” he reiterated.

In his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of 70th Independence Day, Modi talked about the situation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Gilgit and Balochistan and said people from there have thanked him for raising their issues.

1. The situation in Balochistan doesn't present an immediate economic or security problem for India; in contrast, there were more than 10 million refugees from East Bengal in India, presenting a massive humanitarian crisis for GoI.

2. Baluchistan doesn't border India, so the guerrillas have no easy access to safe-havens and training areas; in contrast, East Bengal was bordered on three sides by India and the Mukthi Bahini had safe-havens, training grounds and sympathetic Indian Bengalis who could help them.

In short, India neither has a compelling motivation nor does it have effective means. Methinks this is empty talk by the PM, and at best it is a distraction - more likely, it provides the Paks a justification to crackdown on the Balochs even harder. OTOH, it's a convenient way for Mr Modi and the NDA to pretend they are taking a hard stance on Kashmir, without actually doing anything difficult (what happened to "ek vidhan, ek samvidhan" -- the buggers are rioting and Paks are poking their nose into it anyways, this would have been the best time to lay down the law instead of going off on a Baloch tangent).